There’s a long list of things you shouldn’t drink if you suffer from acid reflux or heartburn: orange juice, hot chocolate, carbonated beverages, lemonade, anything with mint and any bottled drinks with added acid. Water is really the best thing for people with reflux to drink, along with low-fat milk.

You may know that I have been undergoing treatment for acid reflux for about two months, under the supervision of Dr. Jamie Koufman at The Voice Institute of New York. Dr. Koufman is one of the authors of Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook & Cure. I’m a big lover of tea, and I was happy to hear that there are still several varieties of teas that don’t trigger acid reflux. Some doctors might recommend that patients stay away from caffeine altogether, but Dr. Koufman says that a cup of tea (black, green or white) or coffee with milk per day is fine. It’s the people who drink “a fishbowl” of coffee each day who have a problem. Herbal teas like chamomile and rooibos are good, but any fruit-infused teas will be too acidic.

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Maybe you’re not a hypochondriac, but when you get a sudden pain in the chest, you can’t help at least think about it: is that gas, or worse… a heart attack!

Okay, most of you probably aren’t that worried. But wouldn’t you like to know the difference between simple gas pains, and something much worse? In 2005, there were 445,687 deaths in the United States that were as a result of a heart attack or angina. That’s about one of every five deaths! So, maybe it is a good idea to know the difference, huh?
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